Improvement in sewing-machines



W. G. CDQK.

Sewing MaChine.

Patented June 16. 1863.

N. PETERS, Fhnlo-Lilhagrflpluer. wa hingivn, n. c.

UNrrEo STATES PATENT Garrett.

WILLIAM o.ooo1;, or NEW YORK, N. v, ASSIGNQR TO ELLEN L. DEnoEEsr,

or SAME PLACE. a

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Ratent No. 38,927, dated June 16, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

ments in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference being 7 had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of a machine with myimprovements, having the cover removed to expose the working parts to view. Fig. 2 is a left-hand-side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same in the plane indicated by the line or w in Fig. 1, looking from the left of that figure. Fig. at is a'vertical sec-' tion of the same in the plane indicated by the line y in Fig. 1, looking from the right of that figure. Fig.5 is at'rontview of the throat which conducts the cloth to the feed-rolls and needle. Fig. 6 is an axial section of a pair of feed-rollers. 1

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to sewing-machines for making a running stitch with a needleof the kind used for hand-sewing, such needle beingplaced between feed-rollers, which gather up the cloth and feed it along in such manner that the said needle passes through and through it, first from one side and then from the other. Its object is to avoid the necessity of stopping the machine and taking out the work when a certain length has been performed, which is so great an objection to other machines of this class, and render continuous the stitching ot' a piece of cloth of any length.

It consists principally in the arrangement of the rollers which hold the needle and feed the cloth in a frame which vibrates in such manner that the point of the needle will be caused by its vibrating movement to enter the cloth from opposite sides alternately; also,in the em ployment of a reciprocating thimble which serves as a bearing tor the head of the needle at the time of the operation of the feed-rolls, but

' which by its reciprocating movement allows the cloth to pass over and off the head of the needle; also, in the employment, in combination with such reciprocating thimble, ofa tooth .or catch which 'takes hold of the cloth and pulls it over the head of the needle as the said I working parts are attached, furnished with a 1 screw-clamp, B, by which to secure it to the edge of a table.

O D is the vibrating frame which carries the two pairs of needle-holding and cloth-feeding rollers, a a and b b. This frameis composed of two plates, the lower, O, of which is rigidly attached to a horizontal rock-shaft, E, working in hearings in standards 0 c, erected on the bed-plate A, and the upper, D, is attached to C by means of a screw-bolt, d, and not 0, but kept a suitable distance from it to prevent the binding of the rollers by means of two setscrews, 2' i, which screw through either one. The shaftsfgof the two lower feed-rollers are fitted to bearings provided on the lower plate, 0, andthe shafts f g of the upper rollers to bearings provided on the upper plate, D. A

spring, h, of india-rubber or other material, is

placed between the nut e and the plate 0 to make the pressure of the screw yielding and produce a yielding pressure between the roll: ers upon the cloth and needle. The peripheries of the rollers are toothedor roughened in any manner best calculated to bite and hold the cloth, but not fluted to flute or crimp it, and they are severally provided'with one or more grooves, 7 7, one groove being sufficientit' onlyonesizeofneedleisintended tobe used,and two'or more of different sizes being provided when the machine is intended to sew with needles of difierent' sizes, the needle requiring to fit snugly, though not tightly, to the series of grooves. In the example represented there are two grooves in the rollers, and the needle a (see Figs. 1 and 2) is in the smaller series of grooves.- The grooves maybe in the bodies of the several rollers or in rings 1 Z, Fig. 6,

which are titted to turn loosely upon the rollershafts, the rollers, which are firmly secured to I their shafts, being in such case made in sections to enable the said rings 1 l to be put on the shafts. These rings ll will prevent any rubbing friction between the rollers and the needle. The roller-shafts are severally furwith the bed-plate A. the necessary rotary motion imparted to 1t other suitable means.

nished at the opposite ends to the rollers with framemove an equal distance above and bespur-gears m m of equal size, those belonging to each pair of rollers being geared together and the two upper ones of each pair being geared together by an intermediate gear, 1), so that the two pairs of rollers may rotate to feed in the same direction, as indicated by arrows in Fig.'1t.hat is to say, in a direction from the stationary throat F and toward the thimble G. 4

The vibrating movement of the roller-frame O D,which takes place in an upward and downward direction to bring the entrance to the front rollers, a a, (which are next the throat F and farthest from the rock-shaft 13,) alternately above and below the throat F, is produced by a cam, H, on the main shaft I of the.

machine, and a spring, q, of india-rubber or other material, which connects the said frame The shaft 1 may have through a crank, J, turned by hand or by any This cam is also made to produce the necessary rotary movement of the feed-rollers by being provided with teeth 1' 1' at opposite points on its periphery to operate upon a toothed wheel, K, on the shaftf of the upper roller of the first pair. The said cam operates upon the toothed wheel K in producing the upward and downward vibrating movement of the roller frame; but the said wheel is prevented from being turned by the cam except while the teeth 1" r of the latter are passing the said wheel by the points of two teeth of the said wheel resting in contact with the periphery of the said cam, and as the teeth 1' r are on those parts of the periphery which are nearest to and farthest from the axis the feed movements of the rollers take place as the frame arrives atits highest and lowest position and while the frame is stationary, or nearly so, and hence the vibrating movements of the frame and the feeding movements of the rollers alternate with each other. There are two teeth, '1' r, on the cam at the point nearest its axis and only one at the point farthest therefrom; but owing to the difierence of radius at the two points the one tooth at the point first mentioned produces the same amount of movement ofthe wheel K as the two teeth at the first-mentioned point.

The stationary throat F is arranged on the left-hand side of the machine in front of the rollers a a, where it is attached by a screw, it, to an upright plate, L, which forms part of a casing, L M, for. inclosing all of the moving parts of the machine with the exception of the rollers, the thimble, and the crank or other device for turning the main shaft, the said plate having. provided in it a hole, a a, through which the rollers pass. The opening in this throat consists of a slot parallel with the axis of the rollers a. a. b 0, open at the outer end, as shown in Fig. 5, and onlyjust wide enough vertically for the cloth to pass freely through. It is arranged at such a height that the feedrollers a a in the vibrating movement of the low it. The other part of the casing L Mconsists of a cover, M, which covers the top, sides, and back of the shafts and gearing, and which is secured to the bed-plate by screws, but can be removed when necessary, and the said cover has a hole, 22, in the top for the insertion of 'a screw-driver to turn the screw 01 for the adjustment of the pressure of feed-rollers. The said cover M has attached to it a plate, N, which supports the cloth on its way to the throat F, and on this plate there is secured an adjustable guide, P, of a similar character to what is used in other sewing-machines to guide the edge of the cloth or of a fold therein to the needle, that the sewing may be performed at aproper distance from such edge.

The reciprocating thimble G, so called on account of its function resembling that of the thimble used in hand-sewing, consists of a short finger attached to a rock-shaft, Q, arranged parallel with and below the rock-shaft E in fixed bearings in the standards a c, and the said thimble is situated a short distance behind the rollers b b. The rock-shaft Q is operated by means of a cam, R, on the main shaft and a spring, S, of india-rubber or other material, one end of which is connected with an arm, Q, of thesaid rock-shaft and the other with the bed-plate A. The cam acts upon the rock-shaft through a slide;'w, which works in a guide in a standard, 2', and which is connected with an arm, Q of the rock-shaft.

The operation of the cam is such that it holds the cam forward in the position shown in Fig. 2 to support the head of the needle during the feeding movement of the rollers, and after the feeding movement has taken place, while the roller-frame is in its highest position, the step 8 of the cam passes the slide 20 and allows the spring S by its action on the rockshaft to throw back the thimble from. the head of the needle to allow the cloth to pass overit and onto the thread, which is supplied to the eye of the needle from. a suitably-arranged spool. The thread is shown in Fig. 2 in blue and the cloth in red color. This movement of the cam taking place while the roller-frame is descending and while there is no rotary movement of the rollers, allows the needle to remain between the rollers without any longitudinal movement. The thimble is moved forward againby the cam into contact with the head of the needle before the next feed movement of the rollers, and remains so until the rollerframehas made another upward movement. T is the tooth orcatch by which the cloth after having passed the back feed-rollers, I) b, is drawn over and oft the head ofthe needle. This tooth or catch is attached to thelower part of the front of the thimble in such manner and position that as the thimble moves back the said tooth or catch rises and comes in contact with the cloth which is gathered on the needle and draws it back over the head thereof. The cloth as it is drawn ofl' passes over the top of the thimble.

Having now described the. construction and individual operations of the several parts of the machine, I will briefly describe the operation of sewing by it.

The needle n having been placed between the rollers a a b b, with its point projecting forward a little beyond the center of a a, and its eye having been threaded, the cloth is introduced through the throat F and between the first pair of rollers a a, and as the rolleri'rame vibrates upward and downward theportion of the cloth between the throat and the rollers a (t is bent alternately upward and downward over the point of the needle, so that the feed movements which take place while the cloth is so bent and which carry the cloth onto and over the point of and along the needle cause the latter to pass through the cloth from one and the other side alternately. After the cloth has passed the second pair of rolls it is drawn off the needle by the hook T,'as before described, every time the thimble is moved back to allow the cloth to pass over it, and so delivered onto the thread which is thus deposited within it in the form of a running stitch.v The sewing in this way may be continued for any length of time, limited only by nation with the reciprocating thimble G and feeding and needleholding rollers a a b b,

substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

. W. G. COOK.

Witnesses:

M. S. PARTRIDGE, G. W. REED. 

